Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hela]

Dear teachers,

Would you please tell me what the "role" of the pronoun "IT" in the following sentence:

It was dark out there and I couldn't really tell who IT was creeping about.

Is the second "IT" correctly used here? Can we omit it?

Thank you for your help.

Hela

[Smoothie]

The first 'it' is referring to the weather, environment and/or conditions.

I would omit the second 'it'. 'Who' is the pronoun for the unknown person and having 'it' there too... Kinda does my head in. I'm not sure about the rule for the second 'it'.

It sounds fine to me with the second 'it' if 'creeping about' is omitted.

Maybe a comma after 'was'?

a) It was dark out there and I couldn't really tell who it was, creeping about.

b) It was dark out there and I couldn't really tell who it was.

c) It was dark out there and I couldn't really tell who was creeping about.

I think it works in any of these three permutations, but await confirmation and explanation from someone with more expertise than I.

[tri]

It was dark out there and I couldn't really tell who it was creeping about.

It's correct. (the second IT refers to a person that was creeping about.
I couldnt tell who it (the person/alien or whatever) was that was creeping about..

[hela]

Thank you both for your help.
Hela